pdf copy - Fairfield College Preparatory School

Commencement
honors
Mr. Barry Wallace
A Very Wise Choice
H Class of 2013 Inspirational Teacher of the Year Award
Christopher G. Bayer with Fr. Jack
Hanwell, S.J.
The St. Edmund Campion, S.J. Award
honors that senior who has demonstrated
an enthusiastic quest for academic
excellence which leads him to explore the
possibilities of self, faith, goodness and
justice in the world
Christopher G. Bayer
The St. Francis Xavier, S.J. Award honors
that student who by his choices and his
actions has taken advantage of the full
array of opportunities and experiences
offered throughout his four years at Prep.
Mark H. Giannini
The St. John Berchmans, S.J. Award
honors that senior whose faith has led
him to become a man of conscience,
compassion and action in service of
others for the greater glory of God.
Owen J. Gibson
The Reverend Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Award
honors that senior whose vitality of faith
frees him to be a “Man-for-Others.”
Daniel C. Cunn
The St. Peter Claver, S.J. Award honors
that senior who has distinguished himself
by his leadership and his commitment to
the preferential option for the poor.
Matthew T. Kiernan
The Jesuit Secondary Education
Association Award honors that senior
who has distinguished himself as a
well-rounded, intellectually competent
individual who is open to growth,
religious, loving, and committed to doing
justice in generous service to the people
of God. Included in this award is a cash
stipend sponsored by the Tymniak family
in memory of Paul Tymniak, father of Paul,
Chris, and Tim, all Prep graduates
Carter L. White
It is not very often that the words
“wisdom” and “second-semester senior”
are linked, but this year’s senior class was
wise enough to select Mr. Barry Wallace as the
“Most Inspirational Teacher” of 2013.
For a long time, in addition to his
responsibilities around Prep for the last 34
years, Barry Wallace wrote a weekly column
for the Fairfield Citizen. If you wander through
his catalogue, you will find a myriad of
wonderful, colorful stories about his Irish-
American family. Stories about growing up in
Bridgeport, spending time on Old Town Road
and Iranistan Avenue. Stories about summers
at the Pine Creek cottages. Stories about his
identical twin brother Brian, colorful Uncle
Tom, wife Charlene, and daughter Rose. Each
week Barry would touch on one subtle aspect
of life, but if you take his work as a whole,
he was trying to simultaneously define and
commemorate “home.”
Like family life, teaching is a daily exercise
in humility. Entertaining and informing 25
high school boys five times a day is usually
an exercise in controlled failure, but it goes
a little smoother if you bring a story to
your work. What makes Barry Wallace an
inspirational educator is the story he brings,
the voice that tells it and the way he makes
his students feel welcome. They love his
perspective, his willingness to take a risk,
and mostly his calm, eloquent voice during
turbulent times. They love that he listens to
them as individuals, especially when they
write. They hope to get to know him, and
more, hope that he really gets to know them.
When they walk into his classroom and see
him in his rocking chair, they feel comfortably
at home.
But a teacher’s job extends far beyond
the classroom, and Barry has a special touch
around the halls of Prep. His colleagues look
forward to any faculty meeting where Barry
offers a reflection. Or look forward to the note
of congratulations or condolence he slips onto
your desk when you’re not looking. Or a quick
conversation when you catch him peering out
a Berchmans’ window in between classes. Or
the way he can brighten your day with a quick
story about his granddaughter, Charlotte.
The talks and the notes are inspirational
and reassuring; his message drips with care,
concern, insight and wisdom. Depending
on your age you see him as your father or
brother, and feel like after a tough day, you’ve
finally arrived safely home.
A school, like any organization, feels the
need to define itself. We drape ourselves
in Cardinal Red and sing the Alma Mater
and fight song with gusto. We trumpet our
mission statement and mottos and hang
banners to our successes. All of that is great.
But to know a place, like a person, is to know
its story. In his farewell address to the seniors,
Barry asked them to “take the best part of
our souls” with them (see page 12). For many
of us, Barry Wallace helps carry the story of
Fairfield Prep, and when he tells it, softly and
thoughtfully, we are reminded that Fairfield
Prep has the deepest of souls.
By Matt Sather ’93, English Dept. Chair and
Teacher, Varsity Hockey Coach
Prep Today 9